Royal Air Force South Cerney | |||
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IATA: none – ICAO: none | |||
Summary | |||
Location | South Cerney, Gloucestershire | ||
Elevation AMSL | 364 ft / 111 m | ||
Coordinates | |||
Map | |||
RAF South Cerney
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Runways | |||
Direction | Length | Surface | |
ft | m | ||
01/19 | 2,925 | 892 | Grass |
09/27 | 3,225 | 983 | Grass |
Duke of Gloucester Barracks | |
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Type | Joint Air Mounting Centre |
Current owner |
Ministry of Defence |
Controlled by | British Army, Royal Logistics Corps |
RAF South Cerney is an airfield which is now the home of the Joint Air Mounting Centre. It is located in the village of South Cerney near Cirencester in Gloucestershire, England.
It has three very large hangars which are used for processing up to 1,500 'through troops' on operations and exercises, a process which can take anything up to 3 weeks.[1]
RAF South Cerney is centrally placed between the RAF's two main air transport bases of RAF Brize Norton and RAF Lyneham. It offers facilities not available at either, such as an operations suite, briefing rooms and sufficient holding areas for men and equipment up to brigade size. Units report to the Duke of Gloucester barracks[2] for processing, baggage checks, feeding and travel to the airfield.[3]
The movement controller teams based at 29 Rgt RLC Duke of Gloucester Bks are Army RLC Movemement Controllers who assist the RAF by removing the majority of the PAX and Vehicle processing prior to departure.
The Base Air Movements Flight from RAF Lyneham has a section detached to 29 Regt RLC, South Cerney, to provide specialist air movements advice to HQ Land's Joint Air Mounting Centre.[4]
The site has two short runways that are regularly used by two commercial freefall parachuting businesses.[5][6] The airfield is marked on aeronautical charts as a drop zone.
The base has good connections to the A419 and A417 trunk roads allowing easy access to the whole of the southern England, via the M4 and M5 Motorway.